Jackie Vandewalle, Assistant Vice-President of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and Miss Rodeo Texas 2013 Rosanna Pace speak following a public relations event Tuesday on Alamo Plaza.The event announced the 2013 Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive that will be this Saturday downtown.

Photo By Lisa Krantz/San Antonio Express-News

Miss Rodeo Texas Rosanna Pace, left, and Miss Rodeo Texas Teen Avery Greene, 18, get ready for the Cowgirls Live Forever Fashion Show at the Pearl Stable in San Antonio on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013.

At age 21, one of Rosanna Pace's horses ran her over, trampling her jaw and causing her to develop a speech impediment. For most people, getting trampled in the face by a horse might be a pitfall, but Pace transformed it into an opportunity to find ways to better herself and to connect with children.

Last year, after spending months with a speech pathologist, she was crowned Miss Rodeo Texas 2012, and since has made the rounds statewide speaking publically about rodeo, Western heritage and the power of setting individual goals.

Miss Rodeo Texas 2013 will be crowned Thursday at the Holiday Inn near the San Antonio Airport, but in the mean time, the Express-News had a chance to sit down with 2012's reigning queen so she could reflect on the miles she traveled, the people she met and the lessons she learned over the course of the year as Miss Rodeo Texas 2012.

How has this past year been for you as Miss Rodeo Texas?

It's just been incredible. I've met so many people and seen a lot of Texas this past year. I've traveled over 30,000 miles in Texas, and we travel by ourselves because our travel schedule is so crazy, and we're very busy, so I've become very independent. Even from little things, like having to learn how to change your own tire on the side of the road to being able to speak in front of thousands of people.

As Miss Rodeo Texas, you have to go to most of the state's big rodeos; how many have you been to this year?

I've been to well over a hundred.

You're not allowed to have a boyfriend all year long, is that right?

(Laughing) Yes! I did not have a boyfriend this past year, but I've had only one free weekend since January 1 because of all the big rodeos in Texas. So there really isn't time for it, and I feel like you can always have a boyfriend; you can always date. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Did you meet anyone over the course of the year that you would have liked to date?

You meet all kinds of people throughout the year, and I did meet a few guys who were really nice, but it's kind of hard when you're constantly in a new city or a new part of Texas every week. And I'm kind of glad I didn't have that stress this year, because I felt like I was just able to enjoy it.

What impact do you think Miss Rodeo Texas has on the community?

We promote Western values and try to keep Western heritage alive, because more and more kids are being raised where they have no idea where their food came from, or how it got on their plate. So it's great to be able to educate them about beef, about ranching and about farming — the values our country was founded upon.

But we also show them that no matter what you want to be in life, if you set your goals, you can achieve them. I didn't win Miss Rodeo Texas on my first try. I had a speech problem, and the first time I went, I didn't even get in the top two. But I knew that night I didn't win that I was coming back.

A few years prior to the pageant, I was walking my mare through a gate, and she spooked and ran over me and hit me in the jaw. It knocked me out for a few minutes.

When I woke up, my jaw hurt really bad, but I kind of cowgirled up and didn't think much of the pain. I didn't see a doctor, and I should have, because now my jaw doesn't track correctly, and I have to go to a chiropractor every now and then and get it readjusted. But because it wasn't tracking right, the ligaments were off. And Marjorie (the pageant director) told me I needed to go see a speech pathologist to try to work on my voice.

That whole next year, I practiced so hard, I studied, I went to my speech pathologist, we worked on exercises to strengthen those ligaments again, I went to interview coaching lessons — everything. And I came back next year, and I won it. And I had so many people say, 'She'll never win it, because she has a lisp.'

And that was the greatest to come back and after all that hard work and do it.

I've shared that story with children at schools all year, and I tell them, 'Don't let anything ever hold you back. Don't let someone who tells you can't do something hold you back. Whatever your situation is, or your personal battles and hardship — you can overcome that. And this past year, I've spoken to thousands and thousands of people.

What advice would you give to the new Miss Rodeo Texas?

I would tell her just to cherish every moment while she's traveling. The year just goes by so much faster than you think. I feel like it was just yesterday when I was crowned, and now I'm about to pass this crown onto the next girl. You are so busy, but just take the time to really enjoy it, because it's an honor to wear this crown. I mean, rodeo in Texas is huge, and we're treated so well. You really are a queen for the year.

What are you going to do after you pass your crown to the new Miss Rodeo Texas?

I told my mom that the day after the pageant, I think I'm just going to stay in my PJ's all day and just sleep!